Members of the HMJ crew helped organize and lead workshops, wrote
reports for a top
science organization, blogged sessions for conference organizers, used what
they heard to launch stories of their own, and had real-life conversations with
people who had previously been distant, bold-faced names. (Such as Jill
Abramson and Nate Silver.)

They learned lessons large and small, as two blog posts by Ian Branam illustrate.

LinkedIn for
JournalistsBy Ian Branam

As a journalist, I’ve learned to get creative on a deadline.
I’ve used Facebook pages, YouTube videos and research articles to assist me in
my reporting.

At the Online News
Association (ONA) conference this October, I acquired another resource to
help me grow as a journalist: LinkedIn.

I learned that LinkedIn can be much more than a digital
space to store your résumé. The LinkedIn for Journalists tutorial taught me not
only the most effective way to set up your LinkedIn profile to attract
prospective employers, but also, more intriguingly, how to find sources for
stories.

By using the alumni tool, you can find people that worked
for a certain company that might have gone to the same college as you.

For example, if there’s a breaking story that Google is
releasing a new smartphone, I might want to contact a Google employee to get
some exclusive information like when it’s being released or what features it
will have.

By using LinkedIn’s alumni tool, I can select Google
employees that graduated from UGA, and an entire list of people that fit those
criteria would show up in the search results. This gives me a chance to find
contact information on their LinkedIn profile or to send them a direct message
on LinkedIn.

But, here comes the most important part. When I do make the
decision to contact the person, I can use that connection we have as UGA
alumni. By referencing the fact that we both went to the same school, this
provides a sense of commonality.

People are much more inclined to talk to you if they feel
like they can relate to you, which makes this a vital tool for finding experts
to interview. Simply signing off with a “Go Dawgs!” can go a long way in
connecting with people who might have otherwise brushed off your request to
interview.

I’ve been fairly successful getting professors to set aside
time to speak with me. When dealing with a busy physician or hospital
executive, however, I haven’t been as lucky. This is where something like
having an Alma Mater in common can make the difference.

Another helpful tool I learned from this seminar is how to
go into stealth mode through the privacy settings. If I’m interested in working
for a particular employer, but I don’t want them to see that I viewed their
LinkedIn page, I can make myself appear anonymous when that employer pulls up
who’s viewed their profile.

Lessons from the
Meatless Mondays CampaignBy Ian Branam

Meatless Mondays began during World War II to save key foods
for the military. Since then, Meatless Mondays have taken on a different
purpose.

In 2003, Sid Lerner, a former ad man, revived the Meatless
Monday in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.
Meatless Mondays weren’t intended to save food for the military but rather to
adopt healthier eating habits by going meatless one day a week.

In 2006, the campaign expanded to include other health
behaviors like tobacco cessation. In short, Meatless Mondays became about
dedicating the first day of every week to health.

This campaign was one of three health communication
campaigns included in the “Lessons from Mature Health Communication Campaigns”
session at the National
Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media this past August.
The lessons from this campaign taught me a great deal about how disseminating
messages at the beginning of the week can make health communication more
effective.

The shared experience of Mondays provides people with
context for change. Monday represents a fresh start to adopt healthy behaviors.

We break our lives down into weeks. We plan meals by the
week rather than by the month. It’s more effective to give someone a list of
healthy meals at the beginning of the week before they’ve gone grocery shopping
than at the end.

People also exhibit healthier behaviors at the beginning of
the week.

Researchers from the Meatless Monday campaign noticed a spike
in calls to smoking cessation help lines on Mondays and a gradual decline
throughout the week. Every state has noticed this trend in calling patterns to
quit-smoking lines.

People are more likely to start diets, exercise regimens,
quit smoking and schedule doctor’s appointments on Monday than any other day
according to a 2012 survey by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. People
also search the word “healthy” more often on Monday than any other day of the
week according to a 2011 survey by Google. Put simply, people are more open to
healthy behaviors on Mondays.

Finally, many acute events including heart attacks and
strokes happen on Monday, which researchers from Johns Hopkins believe is
caused by stress and unhealthy weekend behaviors.

This is incredible insight for health communicators. As
social media continues to play a greater role in communicating health
information due to its cost-effectiveness and ability to directly engage with
intended audiences, knowledge of trends like this is vital.

The Meatless Monday campaign also found that engagement with
audiences on social media spiked on Mondays and gradually decreased throughout
the week.

With programs out there like Hootsuite and SproutSocial that
allow you to schedule tweets and Facebook posts in advance, this knowledge is
helpful for disseminating health information that can be seamlessly integrated
into peoples’ daily lives.

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Grady College's Health & Medical Journalism Masters program at University of Georgia prepares reporters to write accurate, timely, interesting and credible articles about health and medical news for various audiences. Basic newswriting skills are required, and it helps to have a spirit of adventure. Students receive hands-on training by exploring and reporting health issues impacting various counties in Northeast Georgia.